Hood was nothing without the many men it took to design, built and operate her. One casualty, George David Spinner,[75] is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval memorial,[76] the Hood Chapel at the Church of St John the Baptist, in Boldre, Hampshire, and also on the gravestone of his brother, who died while serving in the Royal Air Force in 1942, in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.[77]. Over 1,400 of these died while building or serving in her. [57], Captain Irvine Glennie assumed command in May 1939 and Hood was assigned to the Home Fleet's Battlecruiser Squadron while still refitting. PO. Hood. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. They were and are the very heart and soul of the ship. . In May 1941, Hood and the battleship Prince of Wales were ordered to intercept the German battleshipBismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were en route to the Atlantic, where they were to attack convoys. On the other hand, the 12-inch belt could have been penetrated if Hood had progressed sufficiently far into her final turn.[84]. On 13 September she was sent to Rosyth along with the battleships Nelson and Rodney and other ships, to be in a better position to intercept a German invasion fleet. . Hood Crew List In addition to the above, submissions by individuals remains a valuable contribution to the database. [67] The three were rescued about two hours after the sinking by the destroyer Electra, which spotted substantial debris but no bodies. He is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the . With the backing of the HMS Hood Association, Mearns planned to return the bell to Portsmouth where it would form part of the first official and permanent memorial to the sacrifice of her last crew at the newly refitted National Museum of the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy were fully aware that the ship's protection flaws still remained, even in her revised design, so Hood was intended for the duties of a battlecruiser and she served in the battlecruiser squadrons through most of her career. 2016 is also the centenary of the Hood's keel laying. At the second board, eyewitnesses reported unusual types of discharge from the 15-inch guns of, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 14:06. HMS Hood was a battlecruiser not a battleship, a flawed concept from the Edwardian age that sacrificed armour for speed in the mistaken belief the latter would protect her when under fire from 'heavy' opponents. While Type 279 used two aerials, a transmitter and a receiver, the Type 279M used only a single transceiver aerial. Hood, Renown and Repulse were deployed to the Bay of Biscay on 5 November to prevent the "pocket battleship" Admiral Scheer from using French ports after she had attacked Convoy HX 84, but the German ship continued into the South Atlantic. [39] Most seriously, the deck protection was flawedspread over three decks, it was designed to detonate an incoming shell on impact with the top deck, with much of the energy being absorbed as the exploding shell had to penetrate the armour of the next two decks. By early 1940, Hood's machinery was in dire shape and limited her best speed to 26.5 knots (49.1km/h; 30.5mph); she was refitted between 4 April and 12 June. [88], The search team and equipment had to be organised within four months, to take advantage of a narrow window of calm conditions in the North Atlantic. [38] Following the loss of three British battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland, 5,000tons of extra armour and bracing were added to Hood's design. The Hood had been launched in 1918 and was armed . [22] The early-warning radar was of a modified type, known as Type 279M, the difference between this and Type 279 being the number of aerials. [35], Influences from Hood showed on subsequent Lexington designs, with the reduction of the main armour belt, the change to "sloped armour", and the addition of four above-water torpedo tubes to the four underwater tubes of the original design. The forecastle deck ranged from 1.75 to 2 inches (44 to 51 millimetres) in thickness, while the upper deck was 2 inches (51mm) thick over the magazines and 0.75 inches (19mm) elsewhere. [48], Hood was given a major refit from 1 May 1929 to 10 March 1931, and afterwards resumed her role as flagship of the battlecruiser squadron under the command of Captain Julian Patterson. We are using the few, fragmentary crew lists known to exist, Navy Lists, various official reports, public records, and most importantly of all, inputs from the families of former crew. Hood Crew List -H.M.S. The upper belt was 5 inches thick amidships and extended forward to 'A' barbette, with a short 4-inch extension aft. The Hood was a truly mighty warship and if you yourself served in any of the Royal Navy's battleships (Hood was a battlecruiser) you will know what 40-odd thousand tons of grey coloured steel looks like, but if you didn't, you can still see that spectacle in the U.S.A., where several of her battleships of around this tonnage are parked as museums. H.M.S. Two HACS Mark III directors were added to the aft end of the signal platform the following year, and the Mark I director aft was replaced by a Mark III. [103] A metal container holding administrative papers was discovered washed ashore on the Norwegian island of Senja in April 1942, almost a year after the Battle of the Denmark Strait. HMS Barham Crew List; . Updated 01-Jan-2020. [4], The additional armour added during construction increased her draught by about 4 feet (1.2m) at deep load, which reduced her freeboard and made her very wet. Commissioned in 1920, she was named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood. Information about men who served in Hood, NAAFI Men One of four Admiral-class battlecruisers ordered in mid-1916, Hood had serious design limitations, though her design was drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction. HMS HOOD - 15in gun Battlecruiserincluding Convoy Escort Movements. [44], Shortly after commissioning on 15 May 1920, Hood became the flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. Hood Rolls of Honour Updated 01-Jan-2020 These memorials are dedicated to those who died whilst building and serving aboard Hood. To compensate for the additional weight, the 4 midships above water torpedo tubes and the armour for the rear torpedo warheads were removed, and the armour for the aft torpedo-control tower was reduced in thickness from 6 to 1.5 inches (38mm). The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from bow to stern,[10] and 120 shells were carried for each gun. Ted Briggs was the last survivor of the battle cruiser HMS Hood, sunk by the German warship Bismarck in the North Atlantic during the Second World War. They served as tragic reminders as to why the war was being fought and why it had to be won. In the afternoon two more Swordfish conducted an A/S patrol around the carrier force. Her secondary and antiaircraft fire-control directors were rearranged during another quick refit between 1 August and 5 September 1934. HMS Hood was avenged and it was a gallant end to the German warship. The Nelson-Class Battleship Pennant number 29, HMS Rodney was one of only two Nelson -class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1920s. The starboard side of the amidships section is missing down to the inner wall of the fuel tanks and the plates of the hull are curling outward; this has been interpreted as indicating the path of the explosion through the starboard fuel tanks. H.M.S. Also listed are the three survivors (coloured blue) - all of whom have now crossed the bar. Joseph Steward. Transferred to the Home Fleet shortly afterwards, Hood was dispatched to Scapa Flow, and operated in the area as a convoy escort and later as a defence against a potential German invasion fleet. [9] She carried enough fuel oil to give her an estimated range of 7,500 nautical miles (13,900km; 8,600mi) at 14 knots (26km/h; 16mph). She was also the largest warship afloat when she was commissioned, and retained that distinction for the next 20 years. Three ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hood after several members of the Hood family, who were notable naval officers: HMS Hood (1859), a 91-gun second-rate ship of the line, originally laid down as HMS Edgar, but renamed in 1848 and launched in 1859. Roster entries: 90,827 (for 89,120 people) Service Persons; Merchant Navy: 43,355: RN: 13,428 . The spectacular end of HMS Hood demonstrated what many in the Royal Navy already knew . Crew Lost During the Sinking of Hood, 24th May 1941 After conservation work, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, unveiled the bell at the museum on 24 May 2016 the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Denmark Strait. HMS Legion sailed aside her to begin evacuating her 1,487 crew as her list got worse progressively, reaching 27 degrees about 13 hours after the hit. As completed, Hood had an overall length of 860feet 7inches (262.3m), a maximum beam of 104feet 2inches (31.8m), and a draught of 32 feet (9.8m) at deep load. The stern section rises from the seabed at an angle. At the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 HMS Queen Mary , HMS Indefatigable, and the unfortunately named HMS Invincible. When the Battle of Jutland broke out in mid-1916, that battle revealed serious flaws in its design, before it ended four years later. On 24 May 1941, early in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, Hood was struck by several German shells, exploded, and sank with the loss of all but 3 of her crew of 1,418. For other ships of the same name, see, According to the testimony of Captain Leach, "between one and two seconds after I formed that impression [of a hit on, Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 14:06, destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kbir, National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, "ADM 220/76: Reports of Performance in H.M.S. She formally transferred to the Mediterranean fleet on 20 October, shortly after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. It was, in fact, the culmination of the German effort to use capital ships like battlecruiser . Hood continued this pattern of a winter training visit to the Mediterranean for the rest of the decade. "[70] The first formal board of enquiry into the loss, presided over by Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake, reported on 2 June, less than a fortnight after the loss. As a result, a second Board was convened under Rear Admiral Sir Harold Walker and reported in September 1941. Unfortunately, there is no surviving official single listing of ALL men who served in her. Later that year, her crew participated in the Invergordon Mutiny over pay cuts for the sailors. Captain Ralph Kerr assumed command during the refit, and Hood was ordered to sea in an attempt to intercept the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst upon the refit's completion in mid-March. As a battlecruiser, Hood was similar in size and had the offensive capability of. [27] The torpedo-warhead armour was reinstated during the ship's 19291931 refit. HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. The crew was safe and later returned to HMS Ark Royal. Out of the of 1,418 sailors onboard, only three including Midshipman . This change increased the ship's vulnerability to plunging (high-trajectory) shells, as it exposed more of the vulnerable deck armour. HMS Hood immediately entered a drydock. HMS Hood was the pride of the British fleet and the Bismarck ended her existence. STOKER IST CLASS Served from 1943 - 1945 Served in HMS Duke Of York. CCY (TCI) Served from 1942 - 1971 Served in HMS Duke Of York. The database remains a "work in progress" and records are added to it at regular intervals. These memorials are dedicated to those who died whilst building and serving aboard Hood. A look at the animal sailors who made up a special part of Hood's crew, Sport & Athletics Also one Swordfish carried out a photographic reconnaissance of the east east of Bogen and the Herjangsfjord. At 0925 hours, when the Ohio, . [94], The forward section lies on its port side, with the amidships section keel up. August 4, 2020. The design was revised after the Battle of Jutland to incorporate heavier armour and all four ships were laid down. Despite the official explanation, some historians continued to believe that the torpedoes caused the ship's loss, while others proposed an accidental explosion inside one of the ship's gun turrets that reached down into the magazine. Published by at June 13, 2022. Dunkerque's sister ship, Strasbourg, managed to escape from the harbour. She was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 kept the ship in service without the upgrades. Just eight days after the French surrender, the British Admiralty issued an ultimatum that the French fleet at Oran intern its ships in a British or neutral port to ensure they would not fall into Axis hands. HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy (RN). Admiral Tom Phillips and others criticised the conduct of the inquiry, largely because no verbatim record of witnesses' testimony had been kept. It has been suggested that the fatal fire spread from the aft end of the ship through the starboard fuel tanks, since the starboard side of Hood "appears to be missing most, if not all of its torpedo bulge plating". May 2016 is the 75th anniversary of Hood's sinking. Hood Rolls of Honour Memorials to Men Lost in the Sinking of Hood, 24th May 1941 Updated 07-Mar-2010 This page contains a listing the 1415 men who were lost when Hood was sunk on 24th May, 1941 William Ramshaw HMS Janus (d.23rd Jan 1944) William Ramshaw served on board HMS Janus and died, age 19, on the 23rd January 1944 when his ship was bombed and sunk at Anzio. This is a public FB page for the H.M.S. Commissioned in 1920, she was named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood. [4], The main battery of the Admiral-class ships consisted of eight BL 15-inch (381mm) Mk I guns in hydraulically powered twin gun turrets. She was the most powerful warship afloat during the interwar. This was to be used for a major event documentary to be aired on the 60th anniversary of the ships' battle. [5] This characteristic earned her the nickname of "the largest submarine in the Navy". At 2002, a message from cruiser HMS Suffolk reported the enemy as one battleship and one cruiser, course 240 degrees, in a position that translated to some 560 kilometers distant and almost directly north of the battlecruiser force. Propulsion: 4 shafts, Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines, 24 Yarrow water-tube boilers Speed: 31 knots (1920), 28 knots (1940) Range: 5,332 miles at 20 knots Complement: 1,169-1,418 men HMS Hood - Armament (1941): Guns Prinz Eugen was probably the first ship to score when a shell hit Hood's boat deck, between her funnels, and started a large fire among the ready-use ammunition for the anti-aircraft guns and rockets of the UP mounts. The main deck was 3 inches (76mm) thick over the magazines and 1 inch (25mm) elsewhere, except for the 2-inch-thick slope that met the bottom of the main belt. The main waterline belt was 12 inches (305mm) thick between 'A' and 'Y' barbettes and thinned to 5 to 6 inches (127 to 152mm) towards the ship's ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. In 1934, the "pom-pom" directors were moved to the former locations of the 5.5-inch control positions on the spotting top and the 9-foot (2.7m) rangefinders for the 5.5-inch control positions were reinstalled on the signal platform. [13] In 1931, a pair of octuple mountings for the 40-millimetre (1.6in) QF 2-pounder Mk VIII gun "pom-pom" were added on the shelter deck, abreast of the funnels, and a third mount was added in 1937. The objective of the cruise was to remind the dominions of their dependence on British sea power and encourage them to support it with money, ships, and facilities. [23], The armour scheme of the Admirals was originally based on that of the battlecruiser Tiger with an 8-inch (203mm) waterline belt. [55] The ship's near-constant active service, resulting from her status as the Royal Navy's most battle-worthy fast capital ship, meant that her material condition gradually deteriorated, and by the mid-1930s, she was in need of a lengthy overhaul. HMS Warspite bombarding defensive positions off Normandy, 6 June 1944. Despite the appearance of newer and more modern ships, Hood remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after her commissioning, and her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood". The HMS Hood is exceptional in more ways than one: She was the last battlecruiser, launched way after the Japanese Kongo class ships. -H.M.S. The names can be accessed by clicking on the links at right (alphabetical by surname or a listing of all names). Hood was straddled during the engagement by Dunkerque; shell splinters wounded two men. Hood was well known as a top sporting ship. Barham Navy List: Hood, Robert: 05/10/1893: Gunner RMA: 09/08/1915: 20/02/1918: 13714: ADM 159/87/13714: Hope, Robert: [25], The armoured belt consisted of face-hardened Krupp cemented armour (KC), arranged in three strakes. The explosion was initiated by 4-inch ammunition stored outside the magazines. Hood Rolls of Honour Memorials to Hood's final crew, 24th May 1941 Updated 07-Mar-2010 This page contains a listing the 1415 men who were lost when Hood was sunk on 24th May, 1941. No hits were scored, but the submarine crash-dived and retreated. Two of these were submerged forward of 'A' turret's magazine and the other four were above water, abaft the rear funnel.